The Mother of the Cult of Gallifrey
'"The Mother of the Cult of Gallifrey" '''is the sixth Special of the 2016 Specials and the 186th episode overall. It was published on February 7, 2016. In the episode, in the past, Gallifreyan leads the Cult of Gallifrey to Black Widow Farm in search of historic artifacts. The Episode GALLIFREY ESTATE TEN YEARS BEFORE NEW FRONTIER Ten year old Deeba Gallifreyan closed her math textbook on the floor of her great-grandmother's study. "I'm done, Parnani." 98-year-old Gallifreyan smiled. "Wonderful. Let me check your work." Deeba handed over her fraction homework. Gallifreyan quickly skimmed it. "All correct. Oh, you're so smart. Your parents are so proud!" Deeba beamed. "As promised," Gallifreyan said, "Storytime." She pulled an enormous book from the bookcase and let it fall with a thud on the desk. "Which story? You've heard all of them by now." "I'm a bit old for Storytime, Nana," Deeba said, "And besides, I've read that book like 100 times over. Don't you have any stories that are NOT in that book?" Gallifreyan closed the book and smiled. "Have I told you about the Douleur?" "No, that sounds boring." Gallifreyan gasped. "Excuse you?" she said dramatically. Deeba laughed. "You never told me how you and Pardadi met." "Your great-grandfather," Gallifreyan said dreamily, "and I met years and years ago...long after the Ghost Genocide." "Tell me!" Deeba said, "Please?" Gallifreyan grinned. MONORAIL 59 YEARS AGO 39-year-old Gallifreyan held on tightly as the Monorail banked left and zoomed into the tunnel. "Estimated arrival in the Gingerbread Empire in fifteen minutes," the intercom said. "You ready?" President Rhys asked. "I am," Gallifreyan said. She looked around the cabin. "Is everyone else?" Bruno and Lily nodded eagerly. The three new recruits also nodded, though it was nervously. "Stick by me, Edmund," Rhys said. "Alright," Edmund Wolley said. "I'll stand by you, Gallifreyan," Sam Ucon said, "If that's okay with you. You're basically a legend." Gallifreyan bowed jokingly. Bruno and Lily laughed. Bruno turned to the final recruit, Xain Dolus. "Stay with Lily and I." The intercom crackled again. "Estimated arrival in the Gingerbread Empire in ten minutes. Destination: Black Widow Farm." The train emerged from the tunnel and curved toward its final stop. BLACK WIDOW FARM Gallifreyan jumped into the snow. She forgot how cold the Gingerbread Empire was. Even now. She shivered at the deserted farm and remembered the empty districts and piling bodies of the Ghost Genocide, what remained the worst atrocity of their time. The ashes on which VMK was built. Both of VMK's Presidents were on this mission now. With the Cult of Gallifrey. "Gather around," Bruno said to everyone, "Briefing time." "Why do you get to do it this time?" Lily asked, "You did it last time." "I won the coin toss," Bruno said smugly, "Sorry, toots." Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled. Bruno read from the mission form. "The Cult of Gallifrey will return to the newly-discovered Black Widow Farm, home of the treacherous Katarina, and will scour the remains for important documents or information pertaining to the aforementioned Katarina. Any valuable artifacts, documents, or findings will be transported back to VMK for presentation before the Edwardian Congress. Questions?" "Um," Xain said, "What exactly are we looking for?" "Anything," Sam said, "I think." "Indeed," Gallifreyan said, "This is a reconnaissance mission. We're trying to find information about Katarina's origins. Not much is known about her before her involvement with us. If she hid anything, they'll be like Horcruxes; hidden in plain objects. Plain sight." "Right," Rhys said, "Shall we? Stick by your partner." Gallifreyan and Sam set off for the northern part of the farm. Rhys and Edmund took the fields. Bruno, Lily, and Xain went toward the house. "Look at this," Sam said, bending down to inspect a set of footprints, faded in the snow, "Someone was through here recently." "Very good," Gallifreyan commended, "I wonder who." "They go right by the house," Sam noticed, "Maybe they were just passing." "No one lives out here," Gallifreyan said, "This is far beyond the outskirts of the farthest districts. We didn't find it until a few months ago. Brandon, Grant, Nutty, and a few others came out to make sure it was the right place." Gallifreyan hit a hand to her forehead. "These are their footprints. False alarm." Sam started laughing. "I was worried for a second," he said, "I don't want to die on my first mission." "You won't," Gallifreyan said, "We haven't lost anyone yet." "Yet," Sam said. Having finished circling the farm, Gallifreyan and Sam joined Bruno, Lily, and Xain inside. "Anything yet?" Gallifreyan asked as they swept the kitchen. "Nope," Lily said, "We found a flowery dress. Not Katarina's style, so probably her mother's." "Her mother?" Xain asked. "Mmhmm," Bruno said, "This house was inhabited by the Krakh family. Mikhail and Anastasia and their three children: Mikhail Jr., Petr, and Katarina." Sam drew in his breath. "Katarina..." Gallifreyan nodded. "Katarina's nanny convinced Katarina to kill her parents. Katarina did so and her brothers joined her on her tirade of terror." "Weren't you engaged to one of them?" Xain asked. Gallifreyan winced. Bruno and Lily quickly interceded. "Oh we don't talk about..." "You shouldn't ask..." "No need to say anything, Galli." "It's okay," Gallifreyan said, "Let's keep looking around." "Sorry," Xain said sheepishly. Gallifreyan and Sam climbed the stairs to the upper level. They heard Rhys and Edmund come in downstairs. They were laughing. "They're getting along," Sam said. "Good," Gallifreyan said, "We are too, aren't we?" Sam looked up. His brown eyes shone. "Yes," he said, "We are." Gallifreyan smiled and turned to look into Katarina's closet. It was mostly empty. A few coat hangers were lying on the floor. There was also a sickle and hammer. She had a flashback to the Ghost Genocide and quickly left the closet. Sam was lifting Katarina's mattress. "Found something," he said. He pulled out a book. Or what looked like a book. As Gallifreyan moved closer, she saw it was a notebook. "A journal?" Gallifreyan asked. "Diary," Sam said. He showed Gallifreyan the cover. Sam tried to open it, but there was a lock on the side. "Of course," he said, "A locked diary." "That must be Katarina's old diary," Gallifreyan said. "Makes sense," Sam said, "Shall we go down and show the others?" Gallifreyan nodded. Downstairs, everyone congregated in the kitchen. Rhys and Edmund showed everyone Katarina's birth certificate, found in a safe in the master bedroom. Mikhail Jr.'s was torn in half. Petr's was missing. Bruno, Lily, and Xain had found several poems written by someone who had lived in the house. There was no definitive evidence to suggest Katarina, but Gallifreyan ruled out Mikhail Jr.; he was never one for poetry. "We found this diary," Sam said, "It might be Katarina's." "Hmm," Bruno said, "Interesting title." Xain suddenly gasped. "The Diary..." he whispered. "The what?" Lily said. But Xain didn't answer. He leapt onto the kitchen counter and snatched the Diary. Shocked, everyone watched as he sprinted wildly out the door. "AFTER HIM!" Rhys shouted. Edmund was first out and darted across the farming fields toward the running Xain. "What is he doing?!" Gallifreyan cried. "He wants that Diary!" Sam said, "It must be important." Bruno soon caught up to Edmund and surpassed him. Sam was even faster. Gallifreyan's legs churned as she ran. Xain was trying to reach the Monorail. What the hell did he want with Katarina's Diary? What the hell was happening? Who the hell was he?! Why the hell didn't recruiting catch this behavior? Xain was pulling on the door of the Monorail, but he never got the door open. Sam slammed into him, wrenching the Diary from his hands and throwing it backwards over his head. Rhys caught it. And then Xain removed a gun and pointed it at the gathering throng. "Stay back," he spat. He pointed the gun at each person in turn. "Give the Diary," he said. Rhys held tight to the book. "Why?" Gallifreyan asked. "I need that Diary," Xain just said. "It's just a teenage girl's gossip," Sam said. "It is NOT!" Xain said, "That book harnesses the power of Katarina. That book holds the power of Xerxes." Gallifreyan glanced at the cover. Xerxes? Gallifreyan remembered. The blimp in the sky over 10GL during the Ghost Genocide. When all she could remember as 10GL died was the word Xerxes. It stood for...Xenon...Xenon Energy Radiation for the Xeric Eradication of Snow. What melted the snow in 10GL. But what did that have to do with Katarina?" "What is Xerxes?" Bruno asked. Xain only laughed. He loaded the gun. "You'll never know." "What's in the Diary?" Rhys asked quickly, moving forward. Xain pointed the gun at Rhys's head. And fired. Sam shoved Rhys out of the way. The bullet struck the house. Xain fired again, hitting the top of Rhys's shoulder. Rhys dropped the Diary. Everyone lunged for it. Gallifreyan felt the edge of the Diary slide out of her hand. "Get it!" she yelled. The gun fired again. Everyone scattered. Xain fell facedown in the snow, bleeding from his chest. The Diary was held firmly in his hand. Sam was holding the gun. He threw it in the reddening snow. "Dear Lord," Lily breathed. "Is everyone okay?" Rhys asked, clutching his shoulder. "Get him inside," Gallifreyan said, grabbing Rhys's good arm, "Get him to the Monorail. The nearest hospital is three hours away." Rhys winced. MONORAIL THREE HOURS LATER "Estimated arrival in Main Street in five minutes," the intercom said. Gallifreyan helped Rhys drink more water and went to ready the door. Sam was waiting there. "I never got to thank you," Gallifreyan said, "for saving Rhys. All of us, really. Getting that blasted Diary." Sam didn't reply. "How old are you, Sam?" Gallifreyan asked. "38," he said, "Same as you, I think." "I'm 39," Gallifreyan said. "You were President when you were 31," Sam said, "What does that do to a person?" Gallifreyan looked down. No one had ever asked her that. No one seemed to think about how hard it was to be so young and inexperienced and yet the leader of an enormous and budding republic. Serving as the leader of 11GL was easy. She had Michael, her ersatz lover. She was alone in the Presidency of VMK. She was not sad to see it go to Rhys, her best friend. "It tore me apart," Gallifreyan said to Sam, "Being President was exhausting. It was not fun. It was not exciting. It was stressful and scary. Everyone looked to me. Everyone called me the Mother of VMK. They named that stupid castle after me. I never asked them to. I hate it when I walk into a room and everyone throws themselves at my feet. Everyone groveling. Thanking me so much for destroying Katarina and saving them. I didn't do that. The Cult of Gallifrey did that." "You're the Mother of the Cult of Gallifrey," Sam said, "You should be proud of that." "I am," Gallifreyan said, "I love the Cult of Gallifrey. It's my proudest accomplishment. And I appreciate your saying so." Sam smiled. "How's your daughter?" Gallifreyan stared into Sam's eyes. Those brown orbs of compassion and care. "How did you know I had a daughter? No one seems to know. Not even my closest friends." "You adopted a girl," Sam said, "I read about it in the newspaper. Her name was Tamara and her family were victims of the Ghost Genocide. Tamara was named by her family after your mother, the Lumiukkess. She's 9." Gallifreyan shed a tear. "How do you know so much?" "I admire you," Sam said instantly, "I'm not obliged to. I'm not compelled to by the public. I don't grovel at your feet. I admire and appreciate all you have done for all of us. Even though it hurt. Even though it tore you apart. Even if no one looks at you and thinks about your own private life. Thank you, Gallifreyan." Gallifreyan was silent. She let a few more tears fall. She was moved. Touched. "Thank you," she whispered. The intercom blared. "Arriving in Main Street. Prepare for departure." CULT OF GALLIFREY HEADQUARTERS ONE YEAR LATER Sam summoned Gallifreyan to his desk. "Bad news," he said, "the lab were able to deactivate the explosive in the lock and open the Diary." "How is that bad?" Gallifreyan asked. "The Diary was stolen," Sam said, "By one of the lab assistants. He's trying to ransom it." Gallifreyan gaped. "WHAT?" "It's okay!" Sam said, "We'll find it! How long can it take, right?" "Fine," Gallifreyan said, sighing, "Is that all?" "Oh," Sam said, "No. I'm making seating arrangements...like you asked. Niall wants to sit with her two current husbands, but I can't make space at Table 5...unless we move Table 3..." "It's our wedding," Gallifreyan said, "I don't think anyone will care if Table 5 is a bit crowded." "Ah," Sam said, making adjustments to his layout, "Thanks." Gallifreyan leaned and kissed him. "Let's find that bloody Diary." GALLIFREY ESTATE 58 YEARS LATER "What was in the Diary?" Deeba interrupted. Gallifreyan was thrown from her train of thought. "What?" she said. "What was in the Diary?" Deeba repeated, "What did it say? Where is it now? Did you find it?" "We did," Gallifreyan said, "Took us a while. I'm not sure where it is. A former Cult member has it." "The Cult of Gallfrey still exists?" Deeba asked eagerly. Gallifreyan frowned. Nutty's assassination. Grant's murder. The rise of the Xerxes threat...the ever-haunting word. The mystery of Operation Blele....that Carnation Woman...the beanie still hiding in her closet...the fall of the Cult of Gallifrey. "No," Gallifreyan said. "What was in the Diary?" Deeba asked again, "Did you ever read it?" "Of course," Gallifreyan said, "Nothing too significant inside. Just teenage gossip. Idle banter." Deeba sighed. "Drat. That's boring." "Deeba!" someone called from downstairs. "Yes, Grandma?" Deeba answered. Gallifreyan's daughter, Elena, called back up. "Your mother wants you to get the night report from the guards." "Okay," Deeba said. She kissed Gallifreyan goodnight and ran down the stairs. Gallifreyan stood and stretched. She grabbed her cane by the door and hobbled into the hallway. Deeba's four brothers raced by, carrying video came controllers. "Careful," Gallifreyan chuckled. The boys disappeared into one of their bedrooms. Gallifreyan went into her own bedroom. Sam was sleeping on the bed. 97 years old now... What lives they lived. Gallifreyan put her cane against the bed and walked toward her closet. She closed the door behind her. With great effort, she pulled the fat trunk from behind everything. Well hidden. She opened the trunk and placed her hand on the inside of the lid. She opened the secret compartment. A smaller box was inside. Gallifreyan removed it. LIBRARY OF ORRUPT ONE MONTH EARLIER Gallifreyan met her daughter, Elena, in the library. "What is it, darling?" Elena led her mother to the biographical section of the library. "We were doing inventory," she explained, "Usually there are too few books. Because people check them out for too long. But this time, there was one too many. So we went back through...and we found this." Elena removed the Diary from the bookshelf. Gallifreyan gasped loudly. She began to hyperventilate. "I have been...looking for that...for...nearly sixty years!" "What?" Elena said, "How? I only remember Dad mentioning it once...that's why I called. I thought you would know what it is." "Is it locked?" Gallifreyan asked. Elena looked down and flipped open the lid. "No." Gallifreyan took the Diary. "Tell no one," she said, "No one is to read this. I don't know what is inside and I do not want to know." "Mom it says Xerxes," Elena said, "What is Xerxes?" Gallifreyan bit her tongue. "Nevermind what Xerxes is," Gallifreyan said, "Tell no one about this. That's an order, Elena." Elena stared, then nodded. CENTRAL PLAZA 50 YEARS AGO "You got it?" "I do." 20-year-old Lewis Hudson held up the Diary, stolen from the lab assistant. Unread. Clark Hudson breathed in relief. "Now we can hide it where no one will find it," Clark said. "Shouldn't we read it?" Lewis asked, "We are the Fourth Xerxes, after all." "Shut up," Clark said, "No one is supposed to know. And no one will know. Xerxes dies with us." "Where do we hide it?" Lewis asked. "Erut Nevda," Clark said nostalgically, "Where it will stay forever." "Why not just destroy it?" Lewis said, "That would ensure no one can read it." "This Diary can be an asset to the Cult of Gallifrey. If it ever arises that it is needed, we will retrieve it for them." Lewis nodded. "Then we hide it? Now?" "Yes," Clark said, "The bus to Erut Nevda leaves soon." ERUT NEVDA BAZAAR SHOP 40 YEARS LATER The young woman knew what she was after. And she knew who hid it. And where. The shop owner was kind, which was rather unfortunate. It made things harder. "I'd like to see the Hudson artifacts," the woman told the owner. The owner smiled. "The what?" The woman pulled a knife on the shop owner. "Unless you want to be the next decoration on your wall, I suggest you get the Hudson artifacts." The shop owner yelped and scurried to the back. She retrieved two safari hats and a boot. She set them on the counter. The woman dug in the hats, but both were empty. The owner watched silently, her eyes looking at the knife. The woman felt something in the boot. Edmund Hudson's old boot. A boring fellow. The woman removed the Diary. Intact. "Thank you," the woman said, and slit her throat. Wiping blood from the blade, Grace McClellan set out across the Bazaar to initiate herself as the Fifth Xerxes. LIBRARY OF ORRUPT 10 YEARS LATER Grace put the Diary on the shelf. Someone would find it eventually. Let them read the stupid thing anyway. It was not at all what Grace had expected. She had spent 10 years carrying the dumb thing around as if it had any sort of power. The myths had converged to be a massive disappointment. The Fifth Xerxes left the library. GALLIFREY ESTATE PRESENT DAY Gallifreyan lifted the smaller box and entered the passcode. It unlocked. She gingerly removed the Diary. "Xerxes Diary," the cover read. "Xerxes," Gallifreyan muttered, "Katarina, what were you?" Gallifreyan opened the Diary and, for the first time, began to read it. Production Promotion With the publishing of "Blue Butterfly Day" on February 6, 2016, came the release of the trailer for the next episode. The video is to the right. The music used is "Elsa is Coming" from ''Once Upon a Time ''season 3 soundtrack. Continuity and Story Arcs Gallifreyan mentions the Douleur, the alien monster fought in "The Bane of the Cult of Gallifrey." Ironically, Deeba declined to hear the story. If she had, it might have proven useful when she herself fought them with her great-grandmother years in the future. This episode takes place during the Presidency of Rhys Orrupt, therefore after the events of "The Rabbit Whisperer." In this episode, not only does Gallifreyan meet her future husband, Sam, mentioned by name only once in "The Procession," but Rhys also meets his future husband, Edmund Wolley. For the first time, Katarina's family surname is given. It was Krakh. Her parents' names were also mentioned for the first time in nearly seven seasons. One of the Cult of Gallifrey recruits asked Gallifreyan about her former marriage to one of the Krakh sons, Mikhail (then known as Michael Inatsikap). Gallifreyan found a sickle and hammer in Katarina's closet, a throwback to ''Ghost Genocide ''when similar clues were left for Gallifreyan in the empty districts. Mentioned in the previous episode, the Xerxes Diary was mentioned again. It was found during the Cult of Gallifrey's reconaissance mission to Black Widow Farm. One of the recruits tried to steal it. When he stated that the Diary harnessed the power of Xerxes, Gallifreyan had a flashback to when 10GL was destroyed in the Ghost Genocide and a blimp over the sky had the letters X.E.R.X.E.S. on it. For Gallifreyan, this is the first time she encountered the word Xerxes since 10GL. It would feature prominently in the 100th episode special, "The Fall of the Cult of Gallifrey." The Diary was stolen by a lab assistant shortly after it was found. It had a bomb built into the cover so that it could not be opened. The lab assistant lost the Diary to Lewis and Clark Hudson, who stole it believing it was rightfully theirs as the Fourth Xerxes. However, determined to let Xerxes die with them, they hid the Diary in Erut Nevda. 40 years later, Grace McClellan found the Diary in a shop and later initiated herself as the Fifth Xerxes. 10 years after that, Grace put the Diary in the Library of Orrupt. She was disappointed with what she found inside. The Diary actually held no power. The details of what was in the Diary were revealed in "Black Widow." Later, Elena found the Diary in the Library and gave it to Gallifreyan, who kept it in her closet. At the end of this episode, she began to read it. This leads directly into the final Special. At the time of Gallifreyan's recounting of the story, the Cult of Gallifrey had fallen. Nutty's assassination was still fresh in her mind, as well as Grant's murder. The mystery of the Carnation Woman and Operation Blele had still not been solved, and many believed the Cult of Gallifrey had been destroyed. Therefore, she lied to Deeba and told her the Cult did not exist. Elena Gallifreyan, Gallifreyan's only biological child, and Deeba's grandmother, returned in this episode. She asked Deeba to get the night report from the Gallifrey Estate guards. The night report was a small scene in "The Visitor" when Anna visited Gallifrey Estate as Marie. Also returning this episode was a brief cameo from Deeba's four brothers, all dead by the end of Series C. References Gallifreyan mentions Horcruxes, a form of dark magic from ''Harry Potter. Gallifreyan thought about many of the central storylines of New Frontier ''and ''Renaissance. Trivia *The episode title was primarily chosen to fit into the "Cult of Gallifrey" series of episodes. *Sam Ucon's surname is modeled after the abbreviation for the college the real-life Deeba attends. *Xain Dolus's name means deceit in two languages (Swahili and Latin). *Krakh, Katarina's family's surname, means "collapse" in Russian, symbolizing the family's crumbling after having Xerxes forced upon it. Category:Episodes Category:Specials Category:2016 Specials Category:Cult of Gallifrey Series